Miami adds another big, talented Tight End to an already stacked group.
In this installment of The Recruiting Notebook, we meet a player who brings great size and potential to Miami’s offense: West Chester (OH) Lakota West 4-star TE Luka Gilbert.
Bio
As Miami looked to continue to cement the future legacy of Tight End U, they turned their recruiting attention to West Chester (OH) Lakota West TE Luka Gilbert.
A 6’7” 233lb Tight End, Gilbert cuts an imposing figure on the field. A dual sport athlete — it should come as no surprise that someone of Gilbert’s height also plays basketball — Gilbert looks to follow the footsteps of Jimmy Graham and have a big impact on the gridiron for the Canes.
Gilbert caught the attention of college coaches with a stellar junior season for Lakota West. He caught 15 passes for 171 yards and 2 TD and helped Lakota West go 11-2 and lost in the Regional Finals.
Through that junior season, Gilbert took Unofficial Visits to Duke, Miami, and local Cincinnati. Heading into the spring, Gilbert had a visit from a Kentucky coach, took an Unofficial Visit to Penn State, then a pair of visits to Coral Gables.
Gilbert committed to Miami later in the spring, then followed that up with an Official Visit to Miami, cementing his commitment in full.
As a senior, Gilbert had 16 catches for 243 yards and 3 touchdowns in 8 games. For the year, Lakota West again made it to the Regional Finals, but lost a rematch against a Cincinnati (OH) St. Xavier they had previously beaten in the season opener.
Recruiting Ranking
On the 247sports composite, Gilbert is a 3-star prospect, the #15 TE nationally, #10 in the State of Ohio, and #314 player overall in this class.
Gilbert committed to Miami over a list of 22 scholarship offers from around the country, which included Iowa, Michigan, Ohio State, and Penn State, among others.
As A Player
The first thing you notice about Gilbert is his immense size. A legit 6’8” 250lbs (by all accounts he’s grown since last season), Gilbert is a massive target for any passing attack. His catch radius is enormous, and his height is a natural mismatch for pretty much every defender he’ll ever face.
Gilbert is best as a blocker at present. Lakota West is definitely a run-based HS team, so Gilbert is mostly used as a blocker to help their offense work. He will continue to develop in this area over time, and be aided by additional weight and strength, 2 things his long lean frame can support.
Though he’s used as an H-Back from time to time, Gilbert is most often found lined up on end of the line next to a tackle. That position is a better fit for his size, since H-Backs need to be a bit more nimble to handle all of the things offenses ask them to do.
Gilbert has solid hands, and good athleticism as a receiver. He’s a bit of a one trick pony at this point in time, however; line up next to an offensive tackle, run straight up the seam, turn and catch the ball. Gilbert is very good at this and Lakota West does well to find him open in the middle of opposing defenses, but he’ll need to work on his route running to add other options to his game.
Strengths
- Height
- Hands
- Blocking
Weaknesses
- Limited route runner
- Needs to develop his body more
- Can improve blocking technique even further
Miami Outlook
Note: changed this up from just a freshman-season outlook to a career outlook for each player a couple years ago and we’re continuing that style this year as well.
Gilbert is a great developmental prospect for Miami at Tight End. With several players in front of him at this position, including fellow 2025 signee Brock Schott, there is no rush to get Gilbert on the field for the Canes.
In a perfect world, Gilbert redshirts early, works on his body, refines his technique, and works his way into a supporting role (for Schott or someone else) at TE down the line. H could have a role as a red zone jump ball target, and also in 2 tight end sets for Miami down the line.
He’s a blue chip recruit so there’s a chance he could become a star player, but the more likely path, in my opinion, is that Gilbert is a solid, mid-tier player on Miami’s roster who flashes solid talent but is more support player than superstar.
That’s it for this installment of The Recruiting Notebook.